Hidden behind [the] appearance of [the] objectivity [of retired generals-cum-network analysts], though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.
But would retired generals really put a positive spin on the situation in Iraq just to maintain favor with the Pentagon?
“I saw immediately in 2003 that things were going south,” General [Paul E.] Vallely, one of the Fox analysts on the trip, recalled in an interview with The Times.The Pentagon, though, need not have worried.
“You can’t believe the progress,” General Vallely told Alan Colmes of Fox News upon his return. He predicted the insurgency would be “down to a few numbers” within months.
No comments:
Post a Comment